


Someone Like Me

by KissMeDeadly



Series: Better In Time [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Time Lady!Buffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 13:45:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7389385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KissMeDeadly/pseuds/KissMeDeadly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when Rose's wish for the Doctor to be safe and happy on the Game Station results in the Bad Wolf creating a Time Lady just for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Game Station 200,100**

Rose steped out of the Tardis in a swirl of glowing golden light to see her - no the Doctor on the floor. She has to remind herself that he's not her's. She speaks as she stops an extermination beam headed right toward her with her hand.

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words, I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here." 

"Rose, you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now. You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're going to burn!" He exclaimed. 

"I want you safe and happy." She responds,then looking to the Daleks, "The Time War ends." And with a wave of her hand, they're all gone, turned to dust; their very atoms divided. 

"Rose, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go." He pleads. 

"How can I let go of this? I bring life." Another wave of her hand and she can feel Jack below her, gasping into eternal life; her mate. Hundreds of thousands of years in the past, she feels another gasp into life; and his.

**Sunnydale 1997**

Buffy woke with a gasp, causing her to breathe in more of the water from the puddle she'd been thrown into. Quickly she turns, and begins to choke up the what had drowned her. After the dry heaves stop, and she can breathe normally again, she looks around to find the cavern empty which confuses her. Who revived her? She pushes the thought aside for now, the Master's escaped which means he was either in the process or had already opened the Hellmouth. Her friends, the town, even the world was going to end if she didn't stop it. Getting up and cleaning herself up as best she could, she ran hoping against hope that some Slayer instinct or something would kick in.

Finding Xander and Angel a few minutes outside the cavern she'd been in was immensely helpful, at least until they started trying to question her.

"Splainy time later, kick Master ass time now." She said, starting to run again now that she had an idea where she was going. She found the Master on the roof of the school, right above the library which as it turned out was situated right above the Hellmouth. A little bit of shock on his part, some quippage on hers and they were fighting again. Except this time she had an unexplainable advantage, despite almost or maybe actually dying she felt stronger; not physically so much but mentally. Her thoughts were racing much quicker than they ever had before even in life or death situations such as this one, and she'd developed a strange natural, all though weak barrier to the Master's mind control. Still it was enough; she won. 

She quickly made her way down to where her friends were dealing with the aftermath. However upon reaching the library, Buffy she gasped for breath; pain seizing her body, nausea and vertigo quickly accompanying. It was sheer will power and the strength of the Slayer within her that kept her on her feet as her mind was flooded with knowledge and memories that no human should have. Finally she collapsed in unconsciousness. 

As Angel picked Buffy up, the group quickly decided that Giles' flat was the most logical place to take her and that Angel would ride with Buffy and Giles while Jenny dropped off Willow and Xander since Cordelia was the only one who still wanted to go to the dance. All the way to the apartment, through the others winding down from the excitement and past them eventually dividing as the need for sleep set in, Angel stood near where Buffy was laid out, still unconscious until the near dawn hour forced him to go home lest he be stuck at Giles' for the day. The next night, Angel arrived to a general air of bewilderment and mild panic with everybody buried nose deep in research.

"Angel." Willow greeted.

"How's Buffy?" He asked, skipping the pleasantries. 

"Still unconscious which is weird but it gets weirder, her body temperature dropped and since the Master bit her, we thought she might have been turned especially after Giles got the call from the Council that there's a new Slayer but Buffy's still breathing and she has a heartbeat even if it is weirdly echo-y so now we're wondering if the Master did try to turn her but botched it somehow." Willow rambled on one breath. He took a moment as he walked toward Buffy to decipher Willow's ramble into what was important and what wasn't. He managed to pick out 'cold body' 'still breathing' 'odd heartbeat' 'botched turning' and 'new Slayer' before he got close enough to Buffy to hear why the humans thought her heartbeat had an odd echo. 

"It's not a botched turning." He said, still listening intently. 

"Shoulda figured you'd know that, probably from being evil undead and trying to turn a Slayer or two yourself." Xander said. 

"Actually I haven't. Angelus tended to avoid Slayers if he could. Spike was the one that went after them but I don't think he ever tried to turn one." He explained. The watcher had walked in while he was talking, 

"I haven't found any reference to any vamp trying to turn a Slayer which is why we can't disprove the theory. But I've only got access to what I've got here since I don't want to alert the Council that Buffy's still alive after the announcement of a new Slayer at least not until we figure out if she'll keep what makes her the Slayer." 

"Whataya mean G man?" Xander asked. 

"I asked you not to call me that." Giles chided, then answered the question, "If Buffy loses her strength, I imagine the Council will treat her as a potential that was never called. She'll be educated to become either a field watcher to her own potential or a researcher. My concern is if she keeps her abilities, that they'll want to study her, maybe see if they can make even more Slayers." 

"It's not a botched turning." Angel repeated. 

"Are you sure? As I said, I've not been able to disprove that theory." Giles asked. 

"I've seen a few botched turnings, one thing I've never seen is the victim growing a second heart."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my new beta Sorentia.

**Powell Estate, London 2005**

The Tardis felt bad about leaving her Wolf's mate behind but she knew it needed to happen like this; her Wolf didn't remember what she'd done and what that meant. Besides between trying to get her Thief to where her Wolf could help him with the regeneration sickness induced neural implosion and needing to help the developing Time Lady mind she could sense, she had her metaphorical hands full. Once she'd made sure she landed safely close to the Powell Estate both in location and time, she turned her attention to forging a mental bond with the Time Lady that would hopefully become her Thief's mate.

Immediately upon entering the young mind, she was confronted with something that shouldn't have been there, a primal essence of violence in the form of a savage young girl.

"You do not belong here." The girl growled but made no other moves. Slowly she crossed what she now saw was a desert overgrown with patches of Gallifreyan red grass under a Gallifreyan orange sky, the primal presence following silently behind her. Eventually, she came across the owner of the dreamscape she was in.

"Well I'm definitely dreaming what with the oddly colored grass and sky; the question is slayer dream or run of the mill strangeness?" The girl asked.

"You're in a healing coma while your body adjusts to the changes." the Tardis' avatar said simply.

"Whataya mean changes? Healing coma? Is this a Slayer thing? Did the Master turn me?" Buffy's voice had grown panicked until her brain caught up to itself and she slowly calmed back down, "No, couldn't have cos' I know I died earlier tonight and something revived me but I didn't wake up as a vampire."

"Vampires? The Master? The Master survived the Time War?" She questioned in surprised confusion." No, whatever the Master might be doing with vampires isn't the point at the moment. And no, you've not been changed into a vampire, you're becoming a Time Lady."

"Okay, gonna go with not a slayer dream since this is definitely not of the cryptic-y, still with the confusing, though. Time Lady? What?" The girl said and the Tardis started to explain.

**Sunnydale 1997**

Buffy opened her eyes, surprisingly clear minded for someone coming out of a coma. She took stock of her body, immediately noticing that she did, in fact, have a double heartbeat; that along with the comforting mental presence she felt at the back of her mind. That hadn't been there before she collapsed and confirmed that the dream she'd had while unconscious was of the based in reality variety.

She stood, and as she stretched asked, "So how long have I been out?"

She looked to her friends who were standing there looking mistrustful and confused. Her own expression dipped into one of confusion before she realized what was going on. Over the course of however long she was out, her body had morphed from human to decidedly not human and given what they dealt with, they were probably torn between being relieved that she was awake and okay and worried that she'd been taken over by something.

"Let's not all answer me at once." She quipped. The silence was stifling until Angel growled, game face on

"What have you done with Buffy."

"I am Buffy." She told him with a pout.

Xander spoke next, his distrust seething through his voice, "Yeah right, Buffy's human, you're not. So what kind of demon are you?"

"Not demon-y, more alien-y. I'm a Time Lady." She explained before flashing them a smile meant to comfort her friends.

"Sounds like something from a b-rated sci-fi." Xander snorted, Willow looked between her two friends and Giles looked thoughtful.

"Assuming Time Lady is, in fact, the female counterpart to Time Lord then I need to make a call," he murmured as his eyes carefully studied his Slayer.

Buffy nodded in confirmation as her Watcher turned and went to use the phone. The silence was deafening as they waited for Giles to finish his call. Soon - Buffy blinked in shock as the amount of time down to the second just appeared in her mind - Giles returned, a grim but hopeful look on his face.

'My friend connected me to his contact in the Preternatural Research Bureau, who maintains that several of our legends are actually alien rather than demonic in nature."

"Bet the Council doesn't like that," Buffy said with a smirk.

"Indeed, they don't," he agreed with a nod to Buffy before removing his glasses to polish them, "Though dismissed as ludicrous, the Council continues to ensure that PROBE is understaffed, underfunded and under constant threat of being shut down with no way to change that. Anyway, his contact is former UNIT scientific advisor Dr. Liz Shaw; she confirmed that Time Lords are a humanoid race of aliens named for their mastery of time. They apparently aren't a threat and do not have the ability to possess or otherwise take over any other beings. She also confirmed that the one Time Lord to have ever been seen on Earth did have two hearts and his core body temp was around 15-16 degrees Celsius though his skin was apparently only slightly cooler than a human." Giles said.

"So it is Buffy? And she's not evil?" Xander questioned.

"She is right here, and I've already said this." Buffy huffed.

"If these so called aliens don't have the ability to take over another, how does a human turn into one after collapsing?" Angel asked. 

Buffy watched as both of her friends turned to Giles who admitted, "I don't know."

"I'm fairly certain I died earlier this evening when the Master left me face down in a puddle of water after drinking enough of my blood to escape which left me too weak to take my face out of the water. When I 'woke up' I was still face down in the water and nobody was there to have revived me. Except something did, and that same something changed my species from human to Gallifreyan as humans don't have the ability to become Time Lords; or maybe they just don't have the ability to mate with Time Lords as I'm kind of under the impression whoever created me, created me as a potential honey for the last Time Lord."

"Well, that's romantic, kind of like a destined mates thing," Willow said with a shy smile.

"Yeah, unless he's ugly, or a baddie, or there's no sparkage," Buffy replied. Angel growled, Xander scowled, and Giles cleared his throat,

"Um... yes before this delves into teenage girl talk, let's get back to the matter at hand. I'd say that we've proved, as much as possible, that Buffy is herself albeit a significantly different one; and that any negatives to this most likely irreversible change will only show themselves with time. So it'd be most prudent to move on to other issues such as what being a Time Lady entail, and hiding Buffy from the Council."

"I thought that was only an issue if Buffy didn't go back to pre-slayage normal," Xander queried with a raised eyebrow.

"Xander, I think what Giles means is that whether Buffy becomes a normal girl is irrelevant to the fact that she's no longer human," Willow said.

"Oh."

"Wait what?" Buffy interjected, not knowing about the new Slayer.

"Buffy I can confirm that you were in fact killed as another Slayer has been called. Now like I told the others, had you simply lost the strength and other abilities that made you the Slayer then the Council would most likely offer to pay for your education to become either a field watcher or researcher. -"

"And if I didn't lose my Slayer ability?" Buffy asked.

"There was a possibility they'd leave you be, but there was also a possibility of attempting to study you to learn more about the Slayer line specifically the possibility of using what happened to you to further split the line by making more Slayers," Giles said.

"And now?" Willow asked, a tremble in her voice.

"Now, it is a certainty that they will not leave you be," Giles said with a severity and level of grim determination that none of the Scoobies had seen before. "The Council abides by the very strict policy that any non-human cannot possibly be good or even neutral. Most likely they'd study you to the extent of figuring out how to kill you by sending Slayer after Slayer after you until one succeeded in killing you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta Sorentia

**Sunnydale, 1997**

"Giles, I may not have wanted to but I was willing to, and in fact did die to protect the human race. I am not willing to die, or kill innocent young girls just because of a group of xenophobic idiots." Buffy said, her voice lowering in anger.

"What about the last Time Lord? If Buffy's the only other of his species, he'd want to protect her even if they don't become smoochy partners, right?" Willow asked.

"Possibly but we have no way of contacting him," Giles explained.

"What about running away? I don't want to see her go but I don't want to see her die either. Especially for something as stupid as bigotry." Angel offered.

"Do we really need to do anything?" Xander asked.

"Xander! Why would you say something like that? Buffy is our friend even if she isn't human anymore." Willow chided.

"I didn't mean it like that Wils, I'm saying that if we hadn't been checking for a pulse cos' of the case of unconsciousness and Dead Boy hadn't come by we wouldn't have known Buffy wasn't human," Xander said, sheepishly.

"Huh, that's right. Well, except we'd need to keep Buffy away from doctors," Willow said, thoughtfully.

"Unless Buffy's non-human species sets off the new girl's Slayer senses." Angel pointed out.

"That's if the new Slayer even comes here," Xander said.

"This is the most active Hellmouth in the world at the moment, it's a given that the new Slayer will relocate with her Watcher," Giles said.

"Then what do we do?" Willow asked.

"Ultimately it's up to Buffy. Both options present a modicum of risk; if Buffy stays here and the new Slayer senses her it could end up being Buffy is forced to injure or even kill the girl to survive. Likewise, since we don't know where the girl is, leaving runs the risk of ending up running where the other Slayer is anyway. Even if she doesn't that still means leaving everybody and everything but what she could pack in a bag or two behind unless she can convince Joyce to move again."

"Or forced her like why they came here. I'm sure Snyder would be willing to expel her...probably for breathing wrong." Xander muttered.

"I couldn't do that to mom, she's finally got the gallery up and running," Buffy said, almost whining.

"But she wouldn't have to go by herself, surely you'd go with her, right Giles?" Willow asked.

"Well, this summer I'll be out of Sunnydale to stay with my dad," Buffy said. With this, they decided against running away figuring that the new Slayer's watcher would give Giles a courtesy call which would give them warning enough to cross that bridge when it came. After that, the impromptu Scooby meeting broke up so Buffy, Willow, and Xander could go home.

###

The next day, they met up with Giles in the library where Giles quickly asked her about a new training schedule.

"Today after school sound good to you?" Buffy volunteered.

"It's okay if you need a couple of days..." Giles trailed off as Buffy glared at him.

"Everything's peachy with a side of keen. I'll see you after school." She said, grabbing her bag and heading to class, Willow and Xander following along behind her.

The day seemed to drag as time does when you're watching a clock. It was hard not to feel that way when the time is intrinsic to your very being. Finally, the last bell rang and Buffy bounded to the library She found Giles was actually standing in the hallway.

"Whats the what?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow as she approached her watcher.

Giles placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded down the hallway, "We'll be using the gym today," he explained as he led her away from the library.

Reaching the gym Giles motioned for her to take a seat. "Today I'm going to have you go through a full standard fitness and strength test, and then we're going to train in hand to hand and with a few different weapons to get a feel for how your new body works and see what, if any, weaknesses can be found. First, though, I'm going to have you meditate while I do a basic check of your vitals."

Buffy nodded, taking a seat crossed legged as Giles began the guided meditation. In her mind, she found herself walking through the same desert overgrown with red grass under an orange sky. She also saw the savage girl whom she'd seen with the Old Girl last time she was here. Except this time, the girl isn't being docile, and Buffy soon found herself fighting the girl.

The next thing she knew Giles was shaking her. She blinked owlishly and looked at him,

"What were you picturing Buffy, your heartbeats went wild and your breathing erratic?" Giles questioned, concern coloring his tone.

"I was attacked by a savage girl in the desert." Buffy said, then "Did you get what you needed?"

"Not quite, this time, I want you to lay down and just breathe deeply. Don't allow yourself to drift into a meditative state until we can figure out what's going on." Ten minutes and three seconds later - she was slowly getting used to this time thing; Giles let her know she could sit up.

"Did you get what you needed this time?" She asked, as she stood and headed to the first machine.

"Yes, I believe so. Let's begin, shall we," Giles responded.

As she worked, Giles went into watcher mode, paying attention to her numbers displayed on the monitor; recording them carefully so he could study them later. He also went on to explain what he'd found,

"I have recorded your resting heartbeats, pulse rates, and blood pressure which hopefully will give me a baseline but since I have no idea what's normal for your race, I can't be sure," Giles said, frustration evident. For the next couple of hours, they moved through everything Giles wanted her to do, mostly silent except for Giles occasional direction or comment. With their session wrapping up, Giles promised to look into the strange girl that attacked her during her meditation and they said their goodbyes.

Buffy went home, took a long, hot shower and changed into something that she could patrol in but would also be decent for Bronzing after. Coming back into her room, she immediately noticed Angel hanging out by her window. She felt a twinge in his presence that though weak was still stronger than her usually weak slay-dar senses.

“Hey.” Angel said as she opened her window for him, “Would you like some company on patrol?”

“Is this – Are you asking me on a slaying date?” She asked, teasing the awkward vampire.

"Yes?" Angel answered, sounding more like a question then, "Yes, I am." She laughed.

"Yeah, sure. Meet me outside in about ten minutes?" She asked. He nodded and slipped out as silently as he'd come in.

They made a slow circuit through several cemeteries before making their way to the Bronze to meet up with Willow and Xander. Once they got there, Angel paid for her drinks, danced with her and even blew off Cordelia who tried to hit on him. It was the closest to a normal girl on a normal date she’d gotten since becoming the Slayer and pre – Time Lady Buffy would have thought it perfect and been ecstatic; however all Buffy felt was weird and uneasy. She pushed it to the back of her mind and got ready for bed, after all tomorrow she'd be heading to LA for the summer with her dad.


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my wonder beta - Sorentia

Back in Sunnydale, the first thing Buffy did after dropping her dad dropped her off was stop off at Giles’ place where he told her that Willow and Xander had taken over her patrol. When she came across her friends, Xander was close to being vamp chow trying to protect Willow; neither of which noticed the other vamp coming up behind the redhead. Grabbing the vamp away from Xander’s neck, she punched his nose, kneed him in the solar plexus before flipping him onto his back and plunging the stake in his heart. Then she turned to the other vamp, who was using her redheaded friend as a shield. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a small flashlight-like device that when she activated it, caused the vamp to catch fire. It was only Xander’s quick thinking that kept Willow from being burned.

As she attempted to shake off the disconcerted feeling the fight left her with, she found herself in a group hug,

Xander exclaimed, “Man, your timing so doesn’t suck!”

“When did you get back?” Willow asked.

“Just now, I stopped at Giles who told me you all would be on patrol. Please tell me you guys are not out here without even having a cross, very sloppy.” She said.

Though both looked chastised, Xander was quick to ask, “So what was that thing you used?”

“Just something I was working on over the summer. Some minor tweaking of a standard ultraviolet flashlight.” She explained, looking up to see Xander’s eyes glazed over in confusion and Willow looking curious. She quickly changed the subject, asking about their summer and they spent the rest of her walking them home to catch up.

Not long after they arrived at the Bronze for one last night of summer fun, Buffy’s new senses flared with the same troubled feeling that the fight the night before had left her with, just as her slayer senses let her know that Angel had arrived. Some small part of her brain tried to connect the two feelings but she buried the thought as the louder teenage girl part of her squealed that her crush was here and paying attention to her. As the night went on, she danced, flirted, and just generally reveled in the chance to be a normal girl. However, as the souled vampire accompanied her on a quick patrol, she found that her senses remained on edge causing her to not notice the empty grave she fell into. She groaned as she shifted in the empty casket she landed in.

"You okay?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish people wouldn't leave graves open like this." Buffy said, as she stood and prepared to pull herself out. She heard Angel say something about another vampire, but at the angle she was at she noticed something that made her doubt that. She took note of the name and dates on the grave, calculating that the girl wasn't much older than she was.   
Hoping out of the grave, she and Angel made their way to her house where Angel tried to kiss her goodnight. Still unsettled, though unsure whether it had to do with the vampire or the conclusion she'd come to about the open grave, she found herself shifting so he caught her cheek awkwardly before shutting the door in his face

The last day before school started, Buffy woke up to the smell of her mom making breakfast. Stretching, she checked the time and amended that to brunch. She briefly wondered what her mom was doing home before remembering they had made plans to spend the day together before the week long buying trip that couldn’t be rescheduled. A long hot shower later, Buffy made her way down where she was greeted with a loaded plate and the older Summers woman.

“Good morning Buffy,” her mother greeted her warmly.

“Morning Mom, ooh thanks!” She took the plate to the table, “So what’s on the agenda today?” She asked before digging in.

“Well, with all the shopping your dad let you do, I can’t imagine you need more clothes.” Her mom teased with a smile then, “But I thought we could get your school supplies, then a late lunch before getting our hair and nails done. Finally, pizza for dinner and a movie.”

“Sounds good.” She replied, finishing her plate off as her mom filled the silence with chatter that didn’t require much of a response on her part. A second helping later, they were off. As they went to the office supply store, they chatted about what classes she’d be taking and even broached college as this was her junior year. She nodded along as her mom tried and failed to subtly tell her she expected better grades this year by mentioning how good colleges expected good GPAs.

A small part of her resented that her mom didn’t realize that considering how much time she had to commit to her duties, the fact that her grades were as good as they were was an accomplishment, but she buried that as she didn’t want to ruin the mood of the day.

'Besides,' she thought, 'with how fast my brain is working these days good grades should be a piece of cake and keep mom happy.'

Lunch was an easy affair at one of the few good restaurants in their small town then it was on to the smallish salon that did it all, Buffy got her roots done, then wanting something new she asked for some slightly darker lowlights. Her nails, she kept short and painted them and her toes in bubblegum pink. They picked up their pizzas on the way home.

Once they got home and the stuff had been put away, her mom said, “I’ll make popcorn while you pick out a couple movies.”

Buffy called out her agreement as she headed toward where the VHS collection was kept. Feeling in the mood for something different, she picked two of her mom’s old movies. She had the first one into the VCR by the time her mom came into the living room with popcorn and pizza on plates. 

“So what did you pick?”

“Arsenic and Old Lace and Hello Dolly.” Buffy chirped, and with that, they settled in to eat and watch their movies.

###

A couple hours later, she climbed out her window to find Angel waiting for her, hoping to take her on another patrol date. Feeling the same unease and agitation she’d gotten from him and every other vampire as her new senses developed, she let him walk with her through a few cemeteries before making her excuses and going home.

The first day of classes, the three teens ran into Giles and Ms. Calendar long enough for Giles to remind her about the training they’d set up at the end of last year. When she went to train with Giles after class, she found him practicing asking Ms. Calendar out to an empty chair.

There were a few minutes of teasing the stuffy Brit before they moved on to training. He informed her that the savage girl in her dreams was the essence of what made a Slayer and was most likely attacking her because Slayers are meant to be human and she’s not. He went on to tell her that he’d spent the summer corresponding with Dr. Shaw trying to get as much information on the Time Lord species as he could.

 

“Time Lord is a title, the species is Gallifreyan,” Buffy said absentmindedly as she continued to train with the dummy.

 

“What?” Giles asked.

“A natural born of the species is born on the planet of Gallifrey, hence Gallifreyan. A Gallifreyan who graduated from the Time Academy earns the title of Time Lord or Lady.” Buffy explained. 

Reading the questions in her Watcher’s eyes just dying to spill out, she reluctantly explained further, 

"Because of the way I was 'created' for lack of a better term, I have a connection to a source of information. Things I should have either learned from my parents or the Time Academy if I'd been born or loomed a natural Gallifreyan."

Not wanting to explain further, Buffy was thankful she heard Willow and Xander enter the library. Turning from Giles she announced, “Somebody’s digging up graves.”

“Vampires?” Xander asked.

“Not unless someone’s digging them up before they wake and dragging them away,” Buffy responded.

“Grave robbers? Giles mused, "It would help if we knew who was supposed to be there."

“I can…” Willow started, jumping on the computer. 

"Meredith Todd; our age, died recently." Buffy supplied.

"She died in a car accident," Willow said.

"Neck issues?" Buffy questioned.

"Just broken," Willow responded. When they made plans to dig up the other girls involved in the car accident, Willow asked,

"Are you gonna call Angel?"

Buffy frowned, confused about her recent reactions to the vampire. Shaking her head she made up her mind and replied, "No, Angel and I...well, never mind. Let's not bother Angel tonight." 

###

That night, she and Willow sat by a gravestone talking while Xander and Giles dug up the grave.

“So what’s this about an information source?” Willow asked, curiously.

“Heard that did you? Well, it’s actually a mental connection to the last Time Lord’s Tardis.” Buffy said, then at her friend's confusion clarified, “Tardis is an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, basically it’s his space ship/time machine.”

“Wow, when’d this happen?” Willow asked.

“She introduced herself to me during that healing coma when my body was first changing. It’s why I wasn’t wigged about waking up non-human. I knew what I was and that I wasn’t being possessed. She’s also where I got the idea that I was created for the last Time Lord. Since then, I’ll usually meet her in a dreamscape while I’m sleeping. She’s been helping me catch up in what I should have learned in the Time Academy.” Buffy said.

“Oh, that makes sense I guess; except what’s the Time Academy?”

“School for Time Lords.” The girls giggled then Buffy continued, “As I explained to Giles, Time Lord isn’t the species or race, it’s a title earned upon graduation from the Academy. Given the nature of how I was created, I get the status of Time Lady and the abilities that come with it despite not having access to the Time Academy but I’d be considered untrained I guess?”

“So like someone who never attended college but got a degree anyway? So what’s a Time Lord or Lady study anyway? And surely you’ll attend once you and the Time Lord find each other right?” Willow rambled question after question.

“Something like that.” Buffy agreed, then “Well there’s a lot of science and tech, Will I swear some of the things she’s teaching me makes Stephen Hawking look like Harmony. Then there’s also lessons about Gallifreyan culture, history, and language, physiology especially the twenty-something additional senses and the touch telepathy abilities I’ll gain. She’s also including a bunch of medical stuff as well. Mostly because I think she’s sensed that my life isn’t the safest and she wants me to be able to avoid regeneration for as long as possible. Apparently, she feels her Time Lord goes through his too fast.”

“Wow. But what about the last Time Lord, if she’s his ship then she can help you find him right? And attending the Academy?” Willow asked.

“Yeah, well actually she doesn’t need to find him. She’s his, and he’s hers so he pretty much lives in her and they’re mentally bound together. She actually has to block him when she’s helping me so that he don’t find out about me too early. Something to do with the Timelines." Buffy cracked a small grin as she continued, "She’s told me that she’s been having fun teasing him about being frustrated that she’s hiding something from him.”

Buffy's smile slipped then before answering Willow’s last question, “The Academy’s not a possibility Will, from what I understand the entire planet is gone; destroyed in some great war.”

“Okay, nice bit of awkward social blunder there wasn’t it?” Willow joked weakly. Then recovered and said, “Changing the subject, what’s up with you and Angel?”

“I don’t know, I feel like I should be ecstatic he’s being so attentive and couply but it’s like ever since I changed he’s left me feeling wigged. It’s so bad, I’ve been all avoid-o girl.”

Willow asked, “Is it because Angel only started being so steady like after he heard that you have a potential honey in the last Time Lord?” Buffy stopped as she took in the question and really thought about it. Deciding that must be it and shoving down any evidence her mind supplied that contradicted Willow's theory, she nodded.

"That must be it. Thanks, Will, what'd I do without you?"

And with that, their girl talk ended as she was needed when neither Xander nor Giles wanted to actually open the coffin they'd just uncovered. Not finding either of the other girls, they spent the walk back to the library discussing which of Giles’ theories this supported. Once they got to the library, Angel and Cordelia’s discovery left them back at square one, however Buffy wasn’t able to concentrate on coming up with a new theory, she was confused and on edge as she tried to reconcile the fact that she wasn’t the least bit upset that Angel left with Cordelia hanging on him.

Noticing Willow’s sympathetic look at how it didn’t appear that Angel minded Cordelia’s clinginess, Buffy shook her head. She didn’t want to deal with it at the moment.

Turning to Giles, she asked, “We’re about done for tonight yeah? We can reconvene tomorrow after classes?”

“Yes, of course. Goodnight, children.” Giles said. She waited just long enough to walk Willow and Xander home then did a quick patrol before going home to help herself to some much-needed ice cream.


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is unbeta'd

During her last class the next day, she was called into Principal Snyder’s office, along with a fellow classmate where he proceeded to compare their permanent records before assigning them both prep duty for Parent – Teacher night which was scheduled for Thursday, giving them four days to pull the thing together. Once they’d been dismissed, Buffy tried to make a plan to meet for lunch the next day but as Shelia appeared uninterested, she quickly gave up and headed for the Scooby meeting she was late for. When she entered the library, she saw Giles talking quietly with Ms. Calendar while Xander and Willow appeared to be making stakes. 

“Sorry, I’m late. The troll wanted a word, so what’s the what?” Buffy called out. 

“What’d he accuse you of this time?” Xander asked. 

“Comparing my crimes to Shelia Martini’s, not too bad but in order to hopefully not be expelled, she and I have to organize Parent Teacher Night.” Buffy said, rolling her eyes. 

“Yes, well there are more pressing matters at hand.” Giles said, 

“Yeah, I know somebody cutting up corpses for parts. Any theories yet?” Buffy asked. 

“No, but even that has been pushed back in the face of Jenny informing me that this Saturday is St. Vigeous.” Giles said. Buffy just sent him a look which when he didn’t pick up on it, she prompted, 

“Which is?” 

“It’s a holy night for vampires commemorating the crusade of the Saint Vigeous through the Middle East.” Ms. Calendar explained. 

“It’s said that on this night, vampires will be at their strongest.” Giles added. 

“Great, as if body parts and a high chance of expulsion wasn’t exciting enough apparently the vampires will be attacking me en masse.” 

“Buffy, you’re being rather flip.” Giles admonished. Buffy just rolled her eyes before changing the subject by asking, 

“So the body part collector?” 

“I don’t understand why they’d dispose of the parts at the school instead of closer to the cemetery.” Giles mused

“Probably had classes.” Buffy conjectured. 

“You think they were students?” Ms. Calendar asked. 

“Angel said this wasn’t a hack job, what student would have such knowledge of anatomy and physiology?” Giles asked skeptically. 

“I can think of several in the science club including myself.” Willow pointed out. 

“Not the time Xan.” Buffy blurted as her hand brushed against the teen boy’s as they reached for the same book. 

“Buffster?” Xander questioned. Shaking off the weird feeling of hearing someone else’s thoughts in her head, she sent a disarming smile toward the others as she said, 

“It’s nothing, I’m fine.” She turned to Willow, “Get the locker numbers for those guys, we’ll do some checking.” 

Between the five of them, they discovered Chris and Eric’s involvement as well as their intentions, then came the news that all three girls head’s had been found which lead to the conclusion that they would need the freshest head they could get – a still living one. Not willing to give them the opportunity, they separated; Xander and Willow went looking for Eric and she went looking for Chris. In the process of looking for him, however, she found his secret and the real motivation for the Bride of Frankenstein reenactment – he’d brought his brother back to life. She also found the target – Cordelia. 

Using Chris’ reluctance to take a life, Buffy got him to admit that Eric was going after Cordy after cheerleading practice. When she and Chris got there and found that she’d already been taken, she got him to fess up to where Eric would take her. The fight against Franken-Daryl was mostly kicking and there was a point when the monster was holding a desk over her that she thought she was going to die until Chris saved her. She returned the favor by holding him back from the fire when his brother went to burn with his ‘bride’. After, when one of the Scoobies pulled Chris away, she took a moment to throw some things that were out of the fire’s reach into the fire before getting to safety herself.

Outside, she found the parking lot swarming with emergency personnel which she artfully avoided, while looking for her friends. When she found them, she was immediately engulfed in a hug from Willow and Xander, their worried thoughts lapping over her in a jumbled mess. She bit back the gasp that wanted to escape her, she’d known that she’d be gaining touch telepathy abilities but she hadn’t thought they’d come on so fast. Thankfully, the hug only lasted a few more moments. She took a moment to look at the clearly relieved looks on Giles’ and Ms. Calendar’s faces, showing they’d also been worried about her as well before Chris approached. She and Chris talked, well she mostly listened until she sensed Angel’s arrival; she didn’t feel like dealing with the confusing conflicting feelings the vampire inspired in her. 

The next day, the Scoobies had a meeting before classes started about this St. Vigeous thingy, then she and Shelia had plans for lunch and their free period to paint banners and whatever. Except, Shelia didn’t show, so Willow ended up helping her and they ran interference for the missing girl when the Troll made an appearance. It was clear he didn’t buy it, and was probably angry she’d even tried but then he’d probably be angry no matter what she did. 

That night, they celebrated last night’s victory at the Bronze. Well, she celebrated by cramming for her French test so her professor wouldn’t have as many negatives to discuss with her mother at Parent –Teacher night. Fifteen minutes into their study session, Xander came over to try to get them to dance with him. She pouted at Willow who half-heartedly tried to protest that they were studying but eventually gave in claiming,   
“I guess we can, Buffy’s doing much better than before. But only one.” She smiled at the redhead’s resolve face. 

“One song.” Buffy promised, and she knew she’d be keeping that promise though not in the way Willow thought as, on their way to the dance floor, she sensed a vampire nearby. 

###

Entering the teen club with one of the Annoying one’s minions whom he’d dubbed Idiot # 1, Spike wondered how the Slayer hadn’t already disposed of the wannabe Aurelian and his never should have survived turning sycophants. When he’d asked for a description of the Slayer, the minions had shouted out descriptors such as petite, pretty, tan and blonde. Eventually, the Annoying One, who didn’t seem much smarter than his minions, ordered Idiot #1 to take Spike to where he was most likely to find the Slayer and point the girl out to him. 

Shaking out of his thoughts, he moved into the shadows before allowing his senses stretch, the ones that told him there was a Slayer nearby that he’d spent most of his unlife developing. Nothing. Not even the slightest tingle. Realizing he’d either missed her, or she just hadn’t been through yet, he shrugged as he decided he’d wait a bit, perhaps find dinner for him and Dru before trying again another night. He was trying to figure out what might entice his Dark Princess to actually eat when he heard idiot # 1

“So you found her.” He twirled around, growling through his descended fangs

“What?” The idiot just pointed in the direction of the trio of teens he’d been watching. The blond had caught his eye, and he was sure that Dru would be willing to eat one of the two with her. 

“The blonde girl between the mousy redhead and nerdy boy, that’s the Slayer.” The idiot said. Spike turned his eyes back to the blonde for a few moments before he responded, 

“Good, then your job’s done. Go grab yourself something to eat.” He waited and watched as the idiot lured a girl out into the alley then he made his way to close enough that the blonde would hear him as he reported the idiot. He wasn’t really expecting the bint to respond, he more expected to prove the idiot was much stupider than he’d previously thought since as close to her as he’d gotten, the feeling he’d come to expect around a Slayer never made itself known. However, he was surprised when she rushed through the crowd toward the alley. He found himself a spot to watch from the shadows just as the girl pulled the idiot away from his dinner. 

“Slayer!” Spike rolled his eyes at the cliché response of the idiot.

“Slayee.” The girl responded, followed by a roundhouse kick. He studied her style, determining that she was pretty evenly matched with the idiot, then he got the second shock of the night when the redhead and brunet came out and instead of screaming, responded to the slayer calling out, 

“Get her away, and a stake would be nice!” He watched the fight for a few more moments but got lost in his own thoughts, confused as to why he couldn’t tell this girl was a slayer. He heard the idiot call his name, but if he thought Spike was going to save him then he was even stupider than Spike thought. After the idiot was dusted, he made a split second decision not to ‘introduce’ himself as he had originally planned; he slipped away unnoticed. 

Over the next couple of days, Spike tailed the blonde slayer hoping to figure the girl out, instead he was more confused than ever. The girl, who he learned was named Buffy through his eavesdropping, regularly had not only the redhead and the boy as well as an older man Spike assumed was the Watcher along with her on patrol but Angelus. When he’d first seen his grand sire, he’d had to do a double take. 

 

‘Angelus avoided Slayers like the plague he considered them to be, so why was he getting close to this one.’ Spike thought. Not looking to confront the older Aurelian, Spike was careful not to get where Captain Forehead could sense him but even with the distance he could tell something was off. The girl was too comfortable with him. Still, not really interested in his grandsire, he soon shrugged it off as Angelus pulling an Anne Rice routine and turned his attention back to his target, the Slayer.

Right off the bat he noticed she was young, probably having only been called in the past year but she was resourceful and if the stories he’d gotten held any truth then she’d already defeated two very old, and powerful Master Vampires. This indicated a strong slayer but in his experience the stronger slayers had stronger essences which registered stronger on his well-honed slayer senses. This enigmatic Slayer left him baffled, weary, and disappointed. Disappointed because despite wanting to build his reputation as the Slayer of Slayers, he didn’t bother with weak slayers and this one’s reputation would’ve made her a real coup as his third. Still, this one would have to be the exception, his Dark Plum’s health had to be his priority and a living Slayer, no matter how weak, was an unneeded complication. 

He slipped away, yet again unnoticed, to start his preparations. He wasn’t going to wait for Saturday, he didn’t need any mystical strength boost to deal with this Slayer. 

###

It was Thursday, the night of the Parent – Teacher conference and Buffy was in the library chopping vegetables, and trying to remember what else she needed to do to make this night perfect so maybe the troll wouldn’t be quite so hateful when he met her mom. She wasn’t holding her breath, Snyder had looked at her gleefully every time he’d seen her since Shelia had bailed, like it was her fault the actual delinquent was flakey. Still, she’d done her best with the task Snyder had assigned her. 

The night went much like she expected, with her friends thankfully running interference between her mother and the Troll until finally they couldn’t anymore. When she saw her mom’s disappointed face and heard the angry, 

“Buffy to the car. Now.” She took a deep breath and reminded herself that while Snyder rightfully deserved his title of Troll, he was actually human and as such she couldn’t hurt him. She let out that breath on a sigh, and went to follow the order put to her when the vampire attack started. She quickly took charge, ushering the panicking parents and teachers into a classroom where she prayed they’d be safe since her own parent was part of that group then took to the vents so she could make it to the Library, and more importantly to the weapons they’d been stockpiling for Saturday. 

She dropped into the Library, answered Giles questions, listened as he reported that he’d sent Xander to get Angel then gave him orders to make sure her mom made it out – even if she didn’t as she stuffed as many stakes as she could into a messenger bag. She made her way back to the vents, moving toward the bleach blond eighties reject that seemed to be leading the pack. Jumping outside the Science room, she took out the vamp that was about to get through the door into the room she’s left her mother and the other parents and teachers. Her slaydar, new and improved since her species change, alerts her as soon as her turned classmate appears, it doesn’t take but a moment to dust the fledge then she turns her attention to the one guarding the second door. The fight last but a couple minutes until the idiot focusing more on the fact she hadn’t beheaded him with the axe she’d taken off Shelia doesn’t realize she’s put a stake right through his heart. He crumbles to dust. 

Letting those in the Science room out, she ushers them toward the exit. Satisfied that her mother was safe, Buffy turned her attention toward the one leading the fray. When she got near the vamp she’d been looking for, she stayed quiet and waited to see when he’d sense her. 

“…I smell the blood of a nice ripe” He spots her “girl.” 

“You shouldn’t have come here Spike.” Buffy said. 

“You know who I am.” Spike said more than asked. 

“Of course I do, vamp outside the Bronze called out for you before I made with the slayage. Wasn’t nice to leave your buddy out to dry to save your own unlife.” 

“Think you can take me? The last Slayer I killed… she begged for her life.” Buffy fought the urge to shudder as he looked her over, “You don’t look like the begging type.” Looking him over much like he had her, she said, 

“You don’t look like much of a threat,” She shrugged, “Must be losing your touch.” She ducked, avoiding the punch he threw, and blocked the next one. She tried a sweeping kick but he jumped over it. She blocked or ducked a couple more before finally landing a punch to his face. The fight went on for several minutes until she was slammed face first against the wall. Quickly she moved, causing his fist to go through the wall. With his hand momentarily stuck, she landed a kick to his back. 

###

“That hurt.” He deadpanned, pulling a beam out of the wall “But not as much as this will.” This was it, he had her laid out and was preparing to deal the killing blow when he heard a sound that gave him pause. He listened carefully for a moment, thinking that somebody else was hiding nearby but no, it was unmistakable. The girl had a double heartbeat. 

“What are you?” He asked, bemused. His thoughts running along the lines of ‘How did the girl have a double heartbeat, she’s the slayer – slayers are human – humans don’t have double heartbeats.’ This was bloody confusing which is the story he’d be sticking with to explain why he didn’t notice the third heartbeat before he felt something heavy and metal bash the back of his head. 

“Get the hell away from my daughter.” His gaze shifted from the older woman to the slayer who’d jumped up to protect her, back to the woman. It didn’t take an idiot to realize that this woman thought this slayer who was not a slayer was her daughter. His only question was how? Which since he very rarely uses his brain to mouth filter came out, 

“How is she your daughter? She’s not even human!” Deciding he didn’t rightly care, he growled and jumped through the same window he’d come in through.

Back at the factory, he was thinking about his discovery when Drusilla spoke, 

“Spike, did she hurt you?”

“It was close, baby but…” He said. 

“Aw come here.” He let his dark plum pull him so his head rested on her shoulder. 

“A non-human slayer! And with family and friends. Sure as hell wasn’t expecting that.” He grumbled. 

“You’ll kill her.” Dru soothed. Deciding to change the subject, he asked, 

“How’s the Annoying One?” 

“He doesn’t want to play.” She said. 

“Guess I better go make nice.” Spike said, but even as it came out of his mouth he decided that wasn’t his style. Before the two realized what he was doing, he’d dusted the last sycophant and locked the Annoying One in a cage before pulling said cage into the skylight. Tomorrow, he’d start making his own minions but for now, he reached for his Dark Princess’ hand and they meandered back into the space they’d claimed for themselves.


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is unbeta'd

Meeting up the next day when she saw Willow, pulled the redhead into a quick hug before releasing her to say,

“You survived, I wasn’t sure.”

“That explains why I spent most of the night in a supply closet with Cordelia.” Willow snapped with a glare. Buffy frowned,

“Oh my God Will, I’m so sorry. I guess I was so focused on mom I kind of…forgot to check.” She winced at how bad that sounded.

“Did something happen to your mom?” Willow asked, clearly more worried about Buffy.

“She saved me from Spike.” Buffy admitted.

“What?!” Everybody exclaimed at the same time.

“Well, her and the fact that I’m not human.” Buffy said.

“You’re not human?” Cordelia questioned, entering the library, “You mean because of the slayerness?” Buffy sent a look to her watcher who had pulled his glasses off to polish as he explained,

“No, traditionally the Slayer is human, but with more than human powers.”

“But Buffy’s not?” Cordelia asked again.

“Not now Cordy, Buff’s about to explain Mrs. Summers vamp stoppage.” Xander said.

“It was the not human thing that allowed mom to stop him, I don’t understand why but somehow he hadn’t realized I wasn’t human until he was about to deal the killing blow. He paused long enough to question what I was which gave mom the opening to smack him upside the head with the blunt end of fire axe.” Buffy explained.

“Isn’t that so? You didn’t end up as Spike’s third.” Willow said.

“Except, he outed me. Major downside.” Buffy said.

“As the Slayer or as a Time Lady?” Giles asked.

“Don’t worry Watcher-mine, my Slayerhood is safe.”

“How’s your mom taking it? Your not – humanyness?” Xander asked.

“She hasn’t mentioned it, I think she’s in Denial land.” Buffy shrugged.

“Or she could just be okay with it.” Willow said optimistically.

“I guess, maybe but it’s more likely that she thinks it was Spike’s ‘PCP induced hallucination’ since she bought the ‘gangs on PCP’ thing from the news.” Buffy said, thankful that the bell rang before the silence could turn awkward. After last bell, she returned to the library to find that Giles had the step aerobics stuff pulled out. She ducked into the office for a moment to change, then flipped through the small music collection that stayed with her training equipment including a boom box that Giles had gotten for her. Picking something with a steady thumping beat, she turned it up and got started.

A couple hours later, when Giles started complaining that her music wasn’t music but noise, Buffy decided she’d worked out enough. The next day, before classes she met up with Willow for a game of Anywhere but Here. Xander joined them and the conversation turned to whether Giles had ever played the game while he was in school; Willow thought he might’ve while she and Xander argued that Giles was too into school. Seeing the object of their discussion, she called,

“Giles!” Once she had his attention and he’d joined them, she said,  
“Hey, morning. Say, is that tweed?

“What? Oh, uh, yes. Um, now, uh, look, tonight is very important, um...” Giles said, starting to walk. They follow him inside.

“Now, that's a surprise.” Buffy said, sarcasm evident, “So, what's on tap tonight that's so important? Uprising, prophesied ritual, preordained death fest?

“Ah, the old standards!” Xander joked.

“Um, a medical transport is delivering the monthly supply of blood to the hospital.” Giles said, clearly preoccupied and oblivious to the tone of the teens.

“Mm. Vampire Meals-On-Wheels.” Buffy quips, stopping at her locker.

“Hopefully not. Uh, we'll meet outside the hospital at 8:30 sharp. I'll bring the weaponry.” Giles said.

“I'll bring the party mix!” Buffy said, overly perky.

“Just don't be late.” Giles said, finally seeming to catch the tone of the conversation.

“Have I ever let you down?” Buffy teased.

“Do you want me to answer that, or shall I just glare?” Giles asked. The conversation ended as Ms. Calendar appeared. Buffy listened with half an ear to the conversation until the two teachers walked away.

###

That night, eight thirty sharp, she was at the hospital where she was supposed to meet Giles…except Giles wasn’t. Slightly annoyed but mostly worried, she watched as two emerg doctors took the blood donation bag cooler until her brain reconnected and she realized that doctors wouldn’t be taking a delivery. Sure enough, as soon as one vehicle pulled away another took its place.

‘Three against one. Yay!’ She thinks sarcastically as she attacks. During the fight, she feels a fourth vampire arrive. She turns to stake it, only to see…

“Angel!” She exclaimed.

“Buffy, watch out!” She ducks the punch and jabs him in the chest. The first vampire jumps up on the hood, too, and Buffy knocks him back off with a punch to the face. She punches the second one in the face, too, and he falls down on the hood on his back. She jumps off of the car and thrusts her stake into the first vampire as he tries to get back up. The second one is off the car again and grabs her by the shirt from behind. She swings around with the stake and gets him in the chest also. The vampire quickly sits up in the driver's seat and floors it as Angel tries to chase him. The car races off, leaving Angel and the blood behind. Buffy opens the lid to check on it.

“How’d you know about this?” Buffy asked.

“Everybody knows about delivery day.” Angel said, with a look like it should be obvious, “They only ruined one bag.” She nods, uncomfortable in the presence of the souled vampire and more concerned about Giles being a no-show, she asks him to make sure the hospital gets the blood and quickly makes her excuses, explaining about Giles.

“Maybe he’s just late.” Angel said.

“Late is Giles’ eighth deadly sin.” She said, leaving without even a goodbye.

At Giles apartment, she knocks until he finally opens the door. He’s well on his way to being drunk. A small part of her was still worried, this type of behaviour wasn’t like her stuffy British watcher but most of her was just annoyed, she’d have gotten the disappointed speech complete with matching expression if she’d have not shown up. It didn’t help that he wouldn’t even tell her what was up.

The next day, she showed up at Ms Calendar’s Saturday class hoping for backup in helping Giles. The class ended up being completely derailed after Cordelia dropped the bomb that she’d walked in on Giles talking to the police the morning before. Deciding to call him, she heads to the library phone. A noise in the stacks causes her to investigate, she finds an older man – she’d place him in the same age bracket as Giles – whom she’d never seen before. Grabbing him, she asks,

“Who the hell are you?” Mystery guy just blinks at her in apparent shock as she gets a rushed flash of blonde and tan before it changes to a much younger Giles calling a younger version of the man in her grip Ethan, Finally Ethan seems to find his voice and responds,

“An old friend.”

“Uh huh, you know Giles,” she said more than asked, “And why are you here?”

“We go way back and that would be telling.” He said cryptically but his thoughts gave him away as she was shown an ugly tattoo, and an even uglier demon along with a name, Eyghon.

“Okay” Buffy rolls her eyes, “Well I’ve got better things to do so here’s what’s gonna happen… you’re gonna come with me while I call the police and report you for breaking and entering.” She said.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. See police will have a lot of questions, for me, Rupert and even you.” Her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

 

“Come on.” She said, forcing him to walk in front of her. Back in Giles office, she keeps her grip on

“Hello.”

“Giles, it’s me,” Buffy said in lieu of a hello.

“Buffy, unless this is an emergency, I’ll see you Monday,” Giles said, sounding like he was getting tired of putting her off. She wasn’t exactly happy at being put off again either so she said,

“I'm in your office with someone who claims to be an old friend of yours. Ethan…?” A look shot in his direction, the man in question quietly spoke his last name which she repeated “Ethan Rayne?”

“He's there with you? Listen, Buffy, you're... you're in grave danger while Ethan's there. I want you to put the phone down and get out of the library as soon as possible.” Giles warned.

“I'm not going anywhere until you give me some answers!” She commanded, determined to hold her ground until somebody comes crashing through the window. Ethan steps behind Buffy and holds her in front of him. She snorts as she pulls away from his hold,

“Classy, do you often use teenage girls to protect you?” She quipped but didn’t wait for a response as she began to fight. Ethan tries to get away as her friends and Ms Calendar enter.

“Don’t let him get away!” She shouts, her focus never leaving her opponent. Soon she’s got him locked in the book cage and like she asked, her friends have kept Ethan from running. She moves the downed man to a chair while the others move to see what she’d been fighting.

“I’m not getting close enough to be sure, but I think he’s dead,” Willow said, talking about the guy in the cage.

“Except the walking around and attacking Buffy part,” Xander said.

“He’s dead.” Ethan confirms, “Sorry Phillip.”

“Is everybody alright?” Giles asks as he barges into the library. Getting a good look at the guy in the cage, Giles stops,

“It can’t be.” He mutters.

“Yes, it can.” Ethan’s voice pulls Giles attention away from the dead guy, “Hello Ripper.” Buffy focuses on the two men though she can hear Cordy asking Xander about the nickname. Giles has moved in front of the other man and lifted him to a standing position by his grip in his hair.

“Giles!” Buffy shouts

“You’ve put the people I care about in danger by coming here.” Giles all but growls.

“Not any more than you’ve put them in by staying,” Ethan replies, still sounding cocky in the face of Giles’ anger. He pushes Giles away, “You've been having the dreams, I know. I have. We both know what's coming.”

“What dreams?! What is going on here?!” Buffy demands

“Tell her, Ripper.” There’s a hint of steel in the man’s voice.

“Giles...” Buffy trails off, as the dead guy now known as Philip breaks the cage door and throws it open into Ms. Calendar, knocking her out. Xander quickly moves away and pushes Cordelia with him.

“JENNY!” Giles shouts, fear in his voice. He scrambles to her aid. Buffy gets between Ethan and Philip and kicks him in the chest three times, forcing him back against the cage. He slides down to the floor, but gets back up and comes for Buffy again. Before he can reach her, his eyes go wide, he begins to convulse and he collapses to the floor next to Jenny. He disintegrates into a puddle of slime. It begins to spread out. Everyone stares. Once they’re over the shock, Buffy looks around,

“Ethan ran off.” She states. Giles pays no mind as he attends to the now conscious Ms Calendar. The four teens watch as the two adults walk away. Tired of Giles being so hush hush on something that’s clearly not only his problem anymore, Buffy hands out orders – Willow to research Eyghon and tattoos associated with him, and Xander with Cordelia to dig through Giles personal records. Then she goes and picks up one of the books Willow has already pulled out. Two hours, fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds later, Willow is bringing her a book. Once she identified the tattoo and the relevant information’s been said, it doesn’t take any of them too long to come to the same conclusion – the demon didn’t die when Philip dissolved, it transferred to the one person it could, the one who’d been unconscious, Ms Calendar. A quick call to both Giles and Ms Calendar without reaching either of them, had her running out the door, leaving the others to continue researching how to defeat Eyghon.

At Giles’ place, she kicks Ms Calendar/Eyghon across the room, then orders it to back off before the possessed teacher dives through the window. She finally gets the story out of Giles and ends up having to go searching for Ethan. She has no idea where the man would go, and worries she’ll be too late but thankfully she finds him. She explains that she isn’t going to run, but that he’s gonna hide and starts to lead him through to the back of the abandoned storefront when she hears him,

“I’m sorry about this Buffy, really I am.” It goes dark. She wakes up tied face down to a table, with Ethan setting up what looks like a tattoo station. As he draws the symbol on the back of her neck, he said,

“I hope you know this isn’t personal, I like you.” At the look she sends him, he continues “I really do, but it has to happen this way.” Under his breath, he mutters,

“You’ll understand one day.” Once he’s done with her, he picks up what looks like a bottle of acid. Her eyes widen slightly in panic, the tattoo process was already uncomfortable; what could this possibly be for. He must notice the look on her face as he reassures her,

“I’m done with you. This part is for me.” He pours the acid over his own mark. When Eyghon arrives, he starts to go for Ethan then seems to notice that Buffy is now marked and changes direction. She’s fighting as hard as she can, unsure what’ll happen if she’s possessed since she’s not human when she recognises a familiar uncomfortable feeling in the vicinity of her spidey – sense. Angel pulls the possessed woman away from her and she can only watch as the vampire begins to choke the poor woman. She hears Willow stop Giles from intervening, apparently having an idea of what should be happening.

She watches as the demon leaves Ms Calendar for Angel, watches as there seems to be some kind of internal struggle as the body switches back and forth between Angel and Eyghon’s demon visage until finally Angel seems to triumph. When they’re sure that Angel won, Willow explains her plan. Put in danger, Eyghon would jump ship, leaving Ms. Calendar alive and possessing Angel but since the vampire already had a demon and couldn’t or wouldn’t host another Eyghon was destroyed.

The rest of October went rather peaceful as far as the Hellmouth was concerned. Even Halloween which she’d been sure would be a pain despite Giles’ assurance that Halloween was dead for the undead. The only bad on Halloween was Snyder’s hoop of the week – involuntary ‘volunteer’ trick or treat duty. Personal lives were a bit rockier, Ms. Calendar was majorly wigged after the whole possession thing, and doing an avoid-o girl routine with Giles, which was understandable except it was causing a guiltapalooza for the man.

For her, there was waffling between the feelings that had been developing between her and Angel before the Bad Wolf changed her and the apprehension that was steadily growing into outright unease. Not to mention her touch telepathy was getting stronger; which while she was working with the Old Girl to develop shields, was slow going making things kind of awkward around her friends. She was really glad it was only when she touched somebody, or she had a feeling she’d have lost most of the deck she was playing with, especially with some of the things she discovered.

One of which came out when their next major crisis hit, Xander and Cordelia had been together at Lover’s Lane when they were attacked by a werewolf. Buffy just waited, she had a feeling that once Giles left the tension brewing would burst. She was right, Willow was the first to speak,

“You’re dating Cordy?!”

“Yeah.” Xander said, scratching his neck nervously, as Cordelia retorted,

“Problem with it?”

“Treasurer of the We Hate Cordelia Club ringing a bell?” Willow directed toward Xander, ignoring Cordy.

“Yeah, I know it’s weird…” Xander starts, Willow interrupts,

“Weird?! It’s against the laws of nature!”

“Look, I was gonna tell you…”Xander said.

“Gee, what stopped you? Could it be shame?” Willow said.

“Overreact much?” Cordy scoffed, “Buffy’s his best friend too and she doesn’t have a problem with it.” Buffy glared at Cordy, then sighed knowing her secret was out now too.

“Oh I do, but I’ve had more time to get used to it.” Buffy admitted. All three turned to look at her in shock,

“You knew?” Willow cried at Buffy, then turning to Xander said, “You told her and not me?”

“Nobody told me Will” Buffy said, not willing to let Xander take the fall in something he didn’t do, “at least not voluntarily.”

“So how’d you know Buff?” Xander asked.

“I’m touch telepathic, it’s part of my new abilities that’ve started developing. I’ve been able to hear your surface thoughts every time you touch me for the past month or so.” Buffy admitted, figuring she might as well take the opening to come clean.

“What?!?” They all exclaimed at the same time.

“At least I’m not the last to know this time.” Willow said, slightly petulant.

“Nobody knew Wills, not even Giles. I’ve been meaning to tell everybody but I wanted to avoid the awkwardness. I’m working on building my shields but until then, I can’t exactly control it. If it makes you feel better, I’ve not spoke a word of anything to anybody.” Buffy said, deciding now wasn’t the time to remind Willow that she had been told and sincerely hoping she still had friends after this. She watched nervously for their reactions, strangely Cordelia was the first. She just shrugged seeming not to care. It really shouldn’t have been much of a shock, one because she and Cordelia didn’t touch all that often, and when Buffy did hear something, it usually came out of the brunette’s mouth soon after. Willow just looked at Xander, then her before walking away, clearly hurt at the secret keepage.

“I don’t know Buff, this is gonna be hard; even now trying not to think about certain things makes me think about them. I mean, you’re not hearing my thoughts now are you?”

“No Xand, I can only hear thoughts through touch, well unless I’m dealing with a telepathic species but humans aren’t so…” Buffy trailed off, then plastered a fake smile on her face as she said, “I understand, the ability isn’t exactly a walk in the park for me either, but I promise I won’t tell anybody anything I hear; you saw I didn’t even tell Will about you and Cordy. I’ll be like vault Buffy.”

“Yeah, sure Buffy.” Xander nodded, though sounding unsure and Buffy noticed he took care not to touch her. Sighing, Buffy accepted that even if she got to keep her friends, they’d be uncomfortable around her for a while and that this was better than outright rejection. With that thought, she headed back to campus. That afternoon’s junior – senior mixed gym class focused on self-defense tactics. With Xander giving her a wide berth and Willow giving both her and Xander the cold shoulder, Buffy was relieved when the coach called out her group,

“Buffy Summers, Larry Blaisdell, Theresa Klusmeyer, and Daniel Osbourne.” She spotted Larry perving on Theresa and headed toward them, lamenting on the fact she had to hide her strength from the creep. The last person to join their group was a redheaded boy who wasn’t any taller than she was that she’d seen around campus but hadn’t met yet. Smiling, she offered,

“Hi, I’m Buffy.”

“Oz.” The boy replied. There wasn’t any more time for talk when the whistle blew. The first technique they practised was how to get away from someone attack from behind, she was paired with Larry. Playing at being a normal female until Larry spoke,

“Oh Summers, you are turning me on…”When his other hand grabbed her butt, she flipped him over hard onto the floor but just before she let go, his mind said something different, ‘I wish you were turning me on. I’m the star football player, girls are supposed to turn me on, not boys.’ Buffy’s eyes widened in shock but after a moment she shook it off, Larry’s sexual orientation was none of her concern. She smiles sheepishly at gaining the coach’s attention and Oz’s comment of,

“That works too.” The next manoeuvre is escaping a frontal attack. This time, she was paired with Oz. When he grabs her arm as the coach had demonstrated she hears,

‘There haven’t been any reports of death by anything that could be a werewolf, should probably figure out how to make sure I can’t hurt anybody. But how? Grandpa died last year and both Aunt Maureen and Uncle Ken are human.’ Shocked at how easily she’d found their werewolf, Buffy strikes harder than she’s supposed to, though thankfully she remembered to pull her strength so she didn’t actually hurt her classmate. Unfortunately, she’s drawn the attention of the coach yet again.

“You seem to know what you’re doing, Summers.” The Coach observed with an unreadable expression.

“I’ve been taking self – defence training for years.” She replied, wondering how bad this looks with her having already been labelled a trouble student. Luckily no further comments were made as the coach went on to demonstrate the last manoeuvre they’d be taught. For this one, she’d be paired with Theresa but with her mind on how to approach Oz without sounding like she wouldn’t be gracing the cover of Sanity Fair anytime soon, she didn’t register whatever thought she might have picked up from the quiet girl. Finally, as the coach called time to change, she made a decision to go for total share mode. She hurried through changing and was able to catch Oz before he left.

“Hey Oz, can I talk to you for a minute?” She asked quietly, trying to avoid catching anybody else’s attention.

“Yeah sure,” Oz replied. As they walked off together, she surreptitiously guided them toward the library while she took a breath and wished she’d planned this out a bit better before speaking,

“I, um, this is gonna sound crazy but I heard what you were thinking about in gym and I think I can help you.” She said, trying not to babble Willow style. He was silent for a long moment before,

“You heard what I was thinking?” He questioned.

“Yeah, about you being worried about hurting someone with your, uh, condition.” She explained, providing the only proof that she had that she wasn’t crazy.

“Wow, so you hear thoughts,” He said.

“Only through skin contact,” She hastened to explain, “People aren’t telepathic enough to project their thoughts.”

“Okay.” He accepted, “You said you could help me?”

“My friends and I deal with this kind of stuff all the time.” She said, leading him into the library just in time to hear Xander ask about silver bullets.

“Well…” Giles starts. Buffy grabs Oz’s arm to keep him from booking as she interrupted,

“Don’t mind Xander, he watches too many horror movies and doesn’t always think before he speaks. I’m sure Giles was about to tell him we don’t kill innocents even if they aren’t completely human.”

“Buffy – and Mr. Osbourne.” Giles greeted, stammering slightly, “What can I help you with?”

“Guys, this is Oz. He’s, uh…” Buffy trails off, uncomfortable sharing somebody else’s secret.

“She means, I’m the werewolf.” Oz admitted.

“You’re sure?” Giles asked.

“Very.” Oz said.

“And how did you discover this Buffy?” Giles asked. Before she had a chance to say anything, Cordelia exclaimed,

“I bet it was that freaky telepathy thing of hers, Oz was in her self-defence group for gym today.” Giles takes his glasses off and begins to polish the already clean lenses as he asked,

“Telepathy, Buffy?” She winced at the clear ‘why wasn’t I told about this’ tone then, “We’ll discuss this later. Right now, we need to make sure we can ensure Mr. Osbourne is safely secured for the next two days and every month here after.” Giles said.

“Oz.” Oz interjected, “You can call me Oz.”

“What about the book cage?” Willow suggested.

“But will it hold him?” Xander questioned, “How strong is a werewolf? Cos that dead guy was able to bust out of it. “

“Dead guy?” Oz whispered to Willow.

“One of Giles’ friends when he was young, he was possessed by a demon. It was a thing.” Willow explained.

“Weird,” Oz said.

“The book cage will have to do for this lunar cycle until and unless we need something stronger. And Buffy, I still think we should patrol tonight just in case Mr. Osbourne – Oz - isn’t the only werewolf in the area.” Giles said.

“Sure can do,” Buffy said.

“That night, with Oz secured and the other Scoobies, minus Cordy, set up with a Taser in case he got out, she and Giles headed to where a werewolf would most likely attack if there was another one loose. First, they did a couple sweeps through Lover’s Lane. Finding a lot of juicy gossip and zilch indicating there was a second wolf, she was about ready to find Giles so they could do a sweep of the rest of the town when suddenly she found herself at tree level in a net.

“Giles!” She screamed, “Somebody! Let me down!” She dropped to the ground just as Giles arrives in the clearing. He helps untangle her from the netting, to find a guy pointing a gun at them.

“Gotta say, I’m impressed, the librarian and the cheerleader.” The guy said. She looks at Giles, then back at the guy before she makes a face in realisation,

“Okay, yeah, no repulsive brain. That’s not even in the vicinity of right.” She said.

“Hey, what you two do at Lover’s Lane is nobody’s business.” Moving so she prevented Giles from lunging at the pig, she quirked at eyebrow as she spoke,

“And you’re here what? Looking for a party?”

“No, I’m looking for werewolves. See this,” He holds out the necklace he’s wearing, “I pulled a tooth from each beast I killed. This one will make an even dozen.”

“You – You hunt werewolves for s-sport?” Giles stuttered in disgust.

“No. Purely for the money. Those pelts fetch a pretty penny in Sri Lanka.” He said. Buffy tensed, trying to keep her anger and disgust in check as she said,

“They’re people. The werewolves you murder are people twenty-eight days out of the month.”

“I know, that’s why I only hunt them the other three.” He said with a complete lack of concern for the lives he was taking.

“Well, you aren’t gonna find this one.” She said. He smirked at her,

“And who’s gonna stop me? You? Sweetheart, this is a man’s job. Go home with Daddy before you get hurt.” He started collecting his net, “Now since the doggie isn’t here, I have somewhere else to be.” Buffy just stared him down until he turned so neither she nor Giles was in danger of being shot, then she struck. Kicking the gun out of his hand, she snatched it from the ground. With his attention back on her, she bent the barrel of the gun until it was rendered unfixable then tossed it back to him as she said,

“Your hunting license just expired. Get the hell out of my town and please let the door hit you in the ass as you leave.” She turned and headed back toward the car, Giles following behind her. They did a quick drive through the rest of the town and made it back to the school just in time for sunrise.

###

After Oz became a full-fledged member of the Scoobies, the tension surrounding Xander and Cordy’s couplehood and her own secret keepage seemed to have broken as they all hung out at the Bronze. Currently, it was just her and Willow as Oz’s band was playing and Xander and Cordy were either on the dance floor or otherwise had found a dark corner somewhere. She took the opportunity for some well-needed girl talk,

“So you and Oz, wow potential?” She asked with a bit of a teasing lilt to her tone.

“Huh? What?” Willow startled out of where she’d been slightly entranced and blushed with a shy smile, “I think so.”

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own characters, settings, cannon plots or quoted dialogue from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who. I just play with them.


End file.
